Thoughts on today's Christian world and how it fits into secular society.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Quest for Happiness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

I once saw an interesting program on television about the quest for happiness. People on the street were asked the question, “What is happiness?” One man said, “Happiness is $100 million.” A woman said, “Happiness is more ready cash.” Someone else said, “Happiness is a castle.” Another person said, “Happiness is a private island.”

Then some people who had actually won the lottery were interviewed. But even these winners said that money couldn’t buy them happiness. It could buy them many things, but soon the emptiness came back. Have you ever dreamed about what it would be like to actually win the lottery, to suddenly become a millionaire? When you dream about something, the dream is usually better than the way it is in real life, as those lottery winners discovered. When your dream comes true, it’s not as exciting as you thought it would be.

Like the woman Jesus met at the well in Samaria , we are looking for someone or something to meet the deepest needs of our lives. We are on a search for fulfillment. But there is simply no person and no thing on this earth that will meet our deepest need.

You see, one of the reasons that we keep coming up empty, one of the reasons that these things don’t satisfy, is that we were created to know God. We were created to have a relationship with the One who made us. Therefore, all these other things are just cheap substitutes. They will never measure up. God himself will get to the heart of your problems. God himself will fill that void in your life.